site.btaUPDATED Central Election Commission Gives Information Services until Wednesday Morning to Recalculate Oct. 2024 Election Data

The Central Election Commission (CEC) said Tuesday that it has given election services provider Information Services until 9am on Wednesday to recalculate the results from the October 2024 parliamentary elections. The initial deadline was Monday.

CEC also decided "to provide Information Services with the election protocols in paper format, as it received them from the Constitutional Court, along with the two electronic storage devices, to Information Services for the re-entry of data and the provision of information, in accordance with the court's ruling of February 26."

The CC has been approached by several parties challenging the lawfulness of the elections. As part of the case it opened, the Court hired experts to do a new count of the ballots in some 2,204 polling stations and once the recount was done, it instructed the Central Election Commission to recalculate the results. CEC, in turn, asked election services operator Information Services to do the recalculation. On March 10, Information Services said that all relevant paperwork had been provided to the prosecuting magistracy. In an unprecedented statement, the Court said that providing the election papers to the prosecuting magistracy without its permission hinders its efforts to conclude the case challenging the election results. 

CEC Deputy Chair Tsvetozar Tomov said that late on Monday they received a message from Information Services CEO Ivaylo Filipov asking for the election protocols and informing the election administration that they would be installing a new server by Tuesday noon after which they will start doing the recalculation. Information Services also asked that they have until 5pm on Wednesday for the recalculation. Another CEC Deputy Chair proposed Wednesday morning as a compromise, and the proposal was backed in a 13-2 vote by CEC.